Embassy Helps Lorry-Riding Cat Get Home 600 Miles Away

Embassy officials are helping a cat return home after it travelled nearly 600 miles from Austria to the Netherlands in the back of a lorry.

The cat was discovered in the Dutch town of Aalsmeer after it jumped out of the lorry while workers were unloading it.

A local animal shelter was called in to help and volunteers are currently taking care of the black-and-white cat, which was not chipped and had a large abscess in its neck.

Picture Credit: CEN/Dierenambulance de Ronde Venen / Amstelland

As the lorry travelled all the way from Sankt Georgen bei Salzburg in Austria, a distance of 575 miles (925 kilometres), the rescuers contacted like-minded Austrian NGOs and even the country’s embassy in the Netherlands.

A spokeswoman for the Austrian Animal Protection Organisation said: “The Austrian Embassy in The Hague recently contacted us about helping to find the owner of what is most likely an Austrian cat.”

In cooperation with the Dutch animal shelter and the Austrian Embassy, the NGO is currently trying to return the cat to its owners in the Alpine country.

The spokeswoman said: “We assume that the cat must have jumped into the lorry when the vehicle was being loaded and then remained unseen for over 1,000 kilometres (621 miles).”

The Austrian Animal Protection Organisation has asked anyone who recognises the cat to contact them right away.